moments of grace

The series is described as a discussion about parental coping strategies, but I took the liberty of tweaking the concept just a little. I opted to reframe it and write instead about where I find my strength. Semantic perhaps, but I needed the more positive spin. And so, I set about writing the three hundred words that I was told that the space allowed.

Since I’d never written anything for anyone else before, I’d never counted words. As it turns out, I use A LOT of them. I’m sure that surprises no one, particularly my husband. But seriously, three hundred words is basically my version of ‘Hi, my name is Jess,’ so it was an interesting challenge to shoe-horn a parenting philosophy into a three hundred word container, but I did my best.

And so, without further adieu, here it is – where I find my strength in three hundred (ish) words.

P.S. I absolutely love the photo you submitted for the article – Katie’s smile and closed eyed hug – your beaming smile – Brooke’s impish grin. There is so much emotion that it fills me to overflowing. I hope you have it framed somewhere in your home.

Very nicely done. It is hard to communicate in 300 words, but you did a wonderful job. Did you ever find out why there was a harp there that day? Was it a volunteer or did the staff pay to “brighten up the place?”